Another Tale Of Two Doctors
by darkestboy
Summary: The Doctor and Jackson do battle with a former enemy. Set after The Next Doctor.


**Name:** Another Tale Of Two Doctors  
**Characters:** 10th Doctor, Jackson Lake, Rosita Farisi, Original Characters, Graske, Krillitane  
**Synopsis:** Following the events of _The Next Doctor_, the Doctor, Jackson Lake, Rosita and Morgan find themselves victims of the Graske, who's managing to mess with two different time periods in a bid to destroy the Doctor forever. Elsewhere, the Master continues his pursuit of Donna.

_Christmas Day, 2008, 5.30pm_.

The one day of the year when London can be a touch dead for the time being. With hardly anywhere open, everyone who had families to go home were there and for the unfortunate ones who weren't, Morgan just felt pity for them.

As for Morgan, he had endured the dinner feast at his Aunt Suzie's with her brood and his father. He had decided that he needed some air. This year had been something of an eye opener for him. He had discovered that aliens were real when he visited Cardiff and bumped into Jack and only a few months ago, he had seen twenty six planets in the sky.

More importantly he had lost his sister and his mother in a car accident, something that very nearly threatened to tear him and his father apart but they still held on. Maybe the fates were being kind to him, to them both. They had a support system with Suzie, their respective set of friends and co-workers. The loss however had cost Morgan his relationship with a photographer called Peter.

Walking the snowless streets, Morgan enjoyed the calming bliss of solitude. He wasn't one of those people where being alone scared him. A lot of the times he needed it and this was one of those times. His father told him not to wait out too long or do anything rash. Morgan promised him that he wouldn't, certain that he would be able to keep said promise.

_Christmas Day, 1851, 8.30pm_.

It had been a wonderful meal, so good that the Doctor had wondered to himself about why he always kept trying to avoid them like the plague. The brilliance of being a time traveller was going to places and meeting people like Jackson Lake and Rosita. Both of them had immediately welcomed him when he first arrived and had it not been for their help, then more than likely Miss Hartigan and her band of Cybermen would've destroyed London in the mid nineteenth century.

Polishing off the remainder of his wine glass, the Doctor smiled at his guests and said, "I guess I should be off. Again, thank you."

Both Rosita and Frederick smiled at the tall thin man in his long jacket and pinstripe suit with affection. To them, he was a bit mad but a hero. The same sentiments they also shared for Jackson.

"Don't be a stranger." Rosita shook his hand and embraced him in a hug. "You're all right for an alien."

"And you're marvellous," the Doctor smiled, reciprocating the flattery, then remembering the first thing she said. "I won't."

With that, both the Doctor and Jackson took a constitution to the TARDIS. The Doctor was still mulling over Jackson's actual reaction to the TARDIS — that mixture of excitement and fear that he had seen so many times. He hadn't been joking that he was glad that Jackson could've been him. He certainly had the heroic qualities that only certain people could have.

"Do you think you ever will?" Jackson asked, snapping the Doctor from his train of thought.

"What?" The Doctor smiled teasingly.

"Come back and see us?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Absolutely." Jackson smiled as the two of them walked up to the TARDIS. "After all, I've only just really met you and I think you need to have some constant friends in your life. I know you said that some of your companions leave because they find someone else or because they should but I still think you could do with visiting some of the people you've met a little more."

The Doctor smiled, touched by Jackson's exchange of friendship. Too often when not travelling with companions, he'd befriend people, get them in danger and either have to save them or be saved by them and then he'd never see them again. Maybe he could make an exception and occasionally visit Jackson, Rosita and Frederick without the motive of an alien force behind it.

"Then I will," the Doctor promised sincerely, taking the other man's hand and looking into his eyes. "I'll come back. Who knows, you might even see me again before you can so much as blink."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"And you, Jackson."

As the TARDIS began to materialise away, Jackson looked on in hope that someday he would see the Doctor again. He also knew that even if he didn't, there would be no reason why he couldn't keep up the heroics as well as resume his teaching to boot. With that, he turned to head back to Rosita and Frederick, unaware that his reunion with the Doctor was going to be a lot quicker than he had anticipated.

"Did you just see that? What was that, a creature from outer space or something? I mean you read about these kind of things but you never take them seriously."

That question could have had a thousand interpretations but for Morgan, it only lead to one. A strange creature had scurried across the street in a frantic hurry. The man next to him reeked of mulled wine so Morgan decided to lie to him.

"Um, no. Sorry, gotta run."

Morgan ignored the man mumbling as he suddenly darted into an alley, looking for the creature. Anyone else would've ran away and Morgan rationed to himself that was exactly what he should be doing as well but he just couldn't.

For months a series of strange things had been happening — the goings on of Adipose Industries, the botched sat navs of ATMOS and most recently, the twenty six planets that appeared in the sky and more Dalek invasions. Because of these incidents and even the alien encounter back in Cardiff, Morgan felt justified in pursuing whatever was in the alley.

Picking his taser out of his bag, Morgan kept his finger near the button at all times. If this thing tried to attack him, it was going to get a nasty jolt of electricity instead.

"I don't mean you any harm," Morgan said, his voice cool. "I just want to see who you are. I know you're alien and trust me, that's hardly a shocker nowadays, so just …"

Morgan didn't finish that sentence. The sound of something creeping up behind him had taken him off guard so much that he immediately spun around, in which a hand grabbed the taser he was about to shoot off. Morgan recognised the face. It was of a man he had done much research about in the last few months.

"So I don't need to introduce myself then?" the young, somewhat geeky and manic looking man said, smiling as he addressed Morgan. "Oh well, that's a shame."

"You're the Doctor?" Morgan stuttered, surprised, then finding himself silly for being surprised that he would be.

"That's me," the man smiled, letting go of Morgan's hand, then noting the taser, which he hadn't taken off the journalist. "Nasty looking weapon you've got there."

"Yeah, well, you've gotta be careful nowadays," Morgan replied, then taking the Doctor's hand to shake. "I'm Morgan by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Morgan. So, what's a young man like you doing out here on Christmas Day? Shouldn't you be with family, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc?" the Doctor smiled, his tone inquisitive.

"Shouldn't you be saving the world from impending disaster?" Morgan threw back, in a kind manner.

"Oh, you _do_ know me then," the Doctor said, now a little curious as to how this young man was aware of him.

"I know of you, there's a difference," Morgan pointed out. "And you're not who I'm looking for."

"Oh," the Doctor sounded slightly disappointed. "Well, that dents my ego just a tad. So, who are you looking for?"

"That."

Morgan's voice trailed, his eyes averted upwards. The Doctor could see that he was staring at a window, light shining from it, bright, blue and bubbling. Without warning, Morgan made for the metallic ladder and began climbing. He ignored the Doctor, who instinctively followed him.

"Morgan!" the Doctor called out to him. "Wait for me. You have no idea what's up there."

"He's coming," the Graske sniffed. He knew the Doctor's scent fairly well by now.

"And I'm leaving," replied a mysterious voice, shrouded in the background unseen. "I will deal with him when things are in perfect order."

The man who was employing him also knew it was his scent and elected to hide by using a perception filter. Once again, the Graske had found himself the minion of another power crazed monster. Still if he could eliminate the Doctor once and for all, the man promised he would reward the Graske with equal dominion of the world.

Inside the room, Morgan found himself staring at a device laid on the table. It was humming furiously. It was also where the blue light was coming from.

"What is it?" Morgan asked, the effects of whatever compelled him to seek out the device beginning to wane.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor sniffed, putting on his brainy specs and flashing the sonic screwdriver around the edges of the device in analytical curiosity. "Low level hypnosis but there's something else too. I just need to — ouch!"

The Doctor had made the mistake of touching the device with his hand and got a stinging shock for his trouble. The thing was practically glued to the table and even the sonic screwdriver had suddenly melted, making the Doctor wince.

"Are you alright?" Morgan asked, concerned.

"Just a little burn, nothing to worry about," the Doctor smiled, not convincingly concealing his pain and embarrassment.

Morgan looked around the room, partly in disdain but also in his own curiosity. Aside from the blistering cold and stench of dampness, there was nothing else here. When he was coming up the ladder, he knew there was someone or something there beside that device, _he just knew_. Then he heard more scurrying in the room. Suddenly the creature he had vaguely seen was back.

"Not you again," the Doctor groaned, his voice indicating that this creature was more of a pest rather than a world destroying threat.

"Doctor," the Graske spat, ray gun in hand, enough to kill both the Doctor and Morgan if he wanted to. "You're too late."

"Too late for what?" Morgan asked.

"What is that device?" the Doctor demanded to know. "What are you up to?"

_Activate_.

Before giving the Doctor any form of an answer, the Graske just shot at him and Morgan. The aim however wasn't meant to kill them. Instead it blew a perfect hole in the wall. A second shot was then aimed at the device but this time, it made the blue light blast out knocking the Doctor and Morgan out into the hole in the wall.

As they fell, a dark figure emerged, still shrouded but placing his monstrous hands on one of the Graske's tentacles.

"Has it worked? Is the Doctor dead?" the Graske asked eagerly.

"Not yet but soon," replied the mystery figure. "I think with someone as annoying as the Doctor, you need to be a bit more industrious when killing him. He'll suffer before I offer him the mercy of death."

The Graske smiled but he was unsatisfied. He wanted the Doctor and whoever that man was with him dead there and then. He didn't want to have to wait for the Doctor to figure this scheme out and the longer he remained breathing that was exactly what would happen. At the same time, the Graske knew he was in no position to fight with this mystery figure either.

For the longest time or what felt like it, the Doctor and Morgan were hanging for dear life on the outside ladder. It was worse for Morgan, who had latched onto the Doctor's leg before the Doctor's grip finally gave and the two of them fell to what should've killed them.

Instead they landed on a cart stocked full of apples, smashing it but at the same time with only a few splinters and some inevitable back pains to their problems. Unfortunately their misfortune didn't end there.

"What?" the Doctor shrilled, his voice almost childlike with petulancy ringing through it. "What?"

"Where are we?" Morgan asked, now noticing and even chiming in with the Doctor's confusion.

The Doctor didn't have time to answer him. Instead he heard a very familiar voice coming towards him. A man whom he had struck a friendship with only a few hours ago was now catching his breath as they faced each other.

"Doctor, what on Earth has happened?" Jackson Lake asked. "What are these devices?"

With that, all of three of them looked around. This wasn't London in 2008 or even London in 1851. In fact, it was an incredibly crazed mixture of both. Houses were both old and modern. Cars and carriages crashed into each other and people were either fleeing or fighting with each other savagely. Either way, it was almost as if the Doctor, Jackson and Morgan were simply voyeurs, neither a part of the action or noticed by anyone else.

"Nothing good," the Doctor muttered, his voice going down an octave or two. "Nothing good at all."

"Okay, that's pretty obvious but what do we do?" Morgan asked.

It wasn't the most intelligent of things to come out with but anything was better than just looking at whatever chaos this weird fusion of two time lines was inevitably going to cause.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Jackson asked, taking notice of Morgan properly for the first time, "and why are you dressed so … strangely?"

"I'm from the future. I'm also Morgan Bishop by the way," the journalist replied while extending his hand for Jackson to shake.

"I was getting there," the Doctor mumbled, while removing some splinters from his hair. "I think we should walk around, see what exactly is happening here."

"Is that wise?" Morgan asked.

"Won't know until we find out," the Doctor glanced at him, taking out his sonic screwdriver.

The three men walked around, their faces both a mixture of bewilderment and horror. Morgan himself couldn't decide if the fact that people from both the nineteenth and twenty first centuries were seemingly frozen in time was either a good or a bad thing. The Doctor's nose twitched a little as well, surveying the damage. Jackson looked similarly fascinated by the scene but there was also an etching of worry on his face. All three men had concurred that this wasn't a good thing.

"It's like they're statues," Jackson murmured, feeling a twenty first century man's arm before letting go of it. "How far does this extend?"

The Doctor didn't answer the question but he scanned his eyes as far as he could and did see that it went pretty far. Why was it that seconds ago, both people and objects were colliding and now they were frozen in time? There had to be more to it but before figuring that out, they needed to know who was involved.

"Jackson, what the hell is going on?"

That loud voice drew all three men out of their trains of thought. The woman running towards them was certainly beautiful and she was accompanied by a young boy. Morgan couldn't tell who they were but he realised that judging by the beaming smiles on both the Doctor and Jackson's faces that she was an ally of sorts.

Rosita exchanged a brief hug with the Doctor and gave him a look of suspicion and trepidation, the same feelings that were running through Morgan.

"Back so soon?" she asked the Doctor, ignoring Morgan.

"You know me, can't stay away," the Doctor smiled at her as his eyes looked at the chaos once again. "Though I was hoping to see you lot in better circumstances than this."

"What is this?" Rosita asked and then noticing Morgan, "and who are you?"

"Morgan and I'm from the future, assuming my dress sense didn't give that away," he said. They didn't shake hands.

"Is that what this is? The future right now?"

"Don't look at me," Morgan said, slightly defensive. "I'm as much in the dark about this as anyone else."

"Well surely someone knows something about this," Rosita protested, not entirely sure if she trusted Morgan.

"That's what we'll have to find out," the Doctor interrupted, eager not to see a squabble between Rosita and Morgan.

That was another curiosity he was going to have to look into — Morgan. This young man seemingly knew a lot about him and while he seemed friendly enough, the Doctor did get the impression that Morgan was a little mistrustful of him. _What exactly did Morgan read up about me? Can I trust him?_

Those were questions that would have to be answered later on. Right now, the Doctor needed to find out what was causing time to merge in this way. More importantly, the longer time was like this, the more likely one period or another would be cancelled out of existence if things weren't properly resolved.

"Then its back to mine and Rosita's until then," Jackson said, suddenly taking command of the situation.

"Allonsy," the Doctor smiled and the five of them, a mixture of strangers and friends, all from different time lines headed towards Jackson's humble abode, unaware that from the shadows the Graske had been watching them all this time.

The Graske had fought his inner need to shoot all five of them on sight, he really wanted to more than ever but he was bound to this deranged time meddler and couldn't do it.

Grudgingly he sloped off and headed back to a funeral home that he had been instructed to meet the hooded figure that had such a hold over him. Walking into the place, he could at least see three henchmen feasting on the body of the former proprietor of the establishment.

"Has he arrived?" the mystery figure called out, coming from the shadows, noticing the Graske's surprising disdain for the henchmens devouring of a human. "If it's so much of a nuisance, perhaps we should talk in the parlour."

The Graske didn't answer. Instead he followed the hooded figure into the parlour, the door closing behind them. The Graske looked around the place. He hated funeral homes despite the fact that seeing corpses was something that he was beyond desensitised to at this point.

"As I was asking before, has the Doctor arrived?" the hooded figure addressed the Graske again, this time pressing for an answer.

"He's here," the Graske confirmed, then realising. "But he's got company. At least three human companions and a small child. Getting past them won't be easy."

"My friends will take care of them," the figure tutted dismissively. "You will bring him to me when the time is right."

"Wouldn't sooner rather than later be wiser?" the Graske pointed out flippantly. "The longer the Doctor is around, the easier it'll be for him to stop you."

"We do this my way," the figure hissed at him. "The Doctor will die on my terms but not before I have a little fun at his expense."

"Can I ask what the Doctor has done so terrible that you seem determined to prolong your grudge towards him?"

For a second, the Graske feared he had crossed a line. He was not physically stronger or even as clever as this mystery figure and for all his knew, he could've been another Trickster. He could spot the creature's eyes underneath the hood raised in anger as well as the sound of his nostrils flaring.

"Let's just that butchery isn't beneath our oh-so heroic Doctor."

The Graske blinked, his curiosity piqued in a big way. He knew that despite being a glorified dandy, the Doctor was also very good at dishing out revenge when a certain race had stepped too far. He had heard stories about the Racnoss and the Family and the Graske was also aware that travelling with humans was a way for the Doctor to keep himself in check as well as the fact that he appreciated their companionship.

To elaborate on his damning assessment of the Doctor, the creature pulled up its sleeves so the Graske for the first time could get a decent look at his arms. One arm was human and badly scarred while the other was alien and also badly scarred. All of a sudden, things were beginning to make sense.

"He did this to you?" the Graske asked, almost surprising himself with the tone of sympathy in his voice when asking the question.

"And my friends," the creature replied, then smiling as he looked out a window, surveying the mess he had managed to cause so easily. "But it's nothing compared to what I'm going to do that genocidal menace when I get my hands on him."

The Graske just looked out the window, perched on a chair. Whoever this creature was, the Graske knew he meant business and if he didn't loathe the Doctor so much, there would've been a part of him that would feel bad for him. Still as far as the Graske was concerned, the Doctor deserved death. A man as annoying as him needed getting rid of once and for all.

Morgan had taken in Jackson's home with a reasonable amount of pride. It was the archetypal Victorian home but he could tell that it was well catered for. Although Rosita didn't strike him as the homemaker type, it was her who went to sort out the refreshments, namely some tea and the remains of Christmas dinner. Morgan declined on the food part.

"So, what are we dealing with?" Rosita enquired, getting back to the matter at hand. She was beginning to feel that too much time was being spent on meaningless small talk.

"To be honest, I'm really clutching at straws here," the Doctor answered, almost embarrassed to admit it.

"That's rare," Jackson said. "You've never seen anything like this before?"

"No."

"What about you?" Rosita asked.

"What about me?" Morgan said, somewhat standoffish but mainly because the question had caught him off guard.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Why would I?" Morgan replied.

"You didn't seem particularly shocked by what's happened outside," Rosita went on. "I just thought you might know something else, that's all."

"I don't, I'm sorry."

"You did say you were looking for something else when we met in the alley," the Doctor remembered.

"That was that creature with the tentacle type things sticking out of its head," Morgan reminded him.

"Graske," the Doctor told him, as he could see both Jackson and Rosita's interest levels rising a bit. "The creature is called a Graske."

"What exactly does a Graske do?" Jackson asked. "Are they dangerous?"

"Not usually," the Doctor said as he got up from his armchair, put his hands behind his back and walked around the room, pacing the floor. "The thing about the Graske is that they're more meddlers than anything else. They're not exactly big scheme thinkers."

"Are you sure?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "That Graske seemed to be pretty damn aware of what it was doing when it shot at that machine."

"It did, didn't it?" the Doctor remembered again, suddenly becoming more curious about why the Graske hadn't simply shot at them. "Why would it shoot at a machine when it had us right in his sight?"

"Yeah, that would've been terrible," Morgan drawled, a little sarcastically than he had wished he had done.

"Come on, think," the Doctor urged, ignoring Morgan's sarcasm. "Why would a Graske do that?"

Morgan thought for a few seconds and then it hit him. Of course, in retrospect it did make perfect sense. The Doctor had probably already figured it out himself.

"First word, "bait," second word, "trap," Oh crap!" Morgan concurred, then thinking about it aloud.

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed.

"It wanted us here. Actually, it wanted you here. I just got caught up in things. It does seem to be a recurring motif of mine."

"Sorry," the Doctor cocked his head while pursing his lips. "That unfortunately tends to happen when people come into contact with me."

"You make it sound like you're radioactive," Morgan snickered, teasingly. This wasn't a great situation to be in but he wasn't in an immediate rush to blame the Doctor for it either.

"You couldn't have known that was going to happen," Rosita empathised. "And I'm sure Morgan isn't going to hold it against you."

"You do realise that I'm in the room, right?" Morgan interrupted, visibly annoyed with Rosita. "I'm not invisible or anything."

"You know what I mean," Rosita interrupted back, defending herself.

"Hey," Jackson warned the both of them. "Let the man speak for himself, Rosita."

Rosita had said nothing but got up from her seat and chose to stay beside the fireplace as the Doctor still paced the floor around, occasionally fiddling with his brainy specs before putting them back in his jacket pocket. Only Morgan and Jackson remained sitting, though both of them were itching to get up themselves.

"No, I don't hold it against the Doctor," Morgan told them. "At least with him here, I actually stand a chance of getting back home and of course, time being restored correctly and all."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," the Doctor gave Morgan a wry look. "Come to think of it, what exactly do you know about me?"

That caught Morgan off guard. It wasn't that he wasn't expecting the Doctor to eventually grill him about what he actually knew about him but he assumed it would be later when time wasn't quite as frozen. Still, it might have been better just to get a potentially awkward conversation out of the way first.

"Um, let me see. You're a Time Lord, two hearts, 900 years old, regenerations, time travel, companions, bit of a dandy and that's probably the basics," Morgan smiled at the Time Lord like a child who had won a spelling bee contest. "How am I doing so far?"

"A little too well," the Doctor admitted. "Morgan, you trust me to fix all of this, even though you've only just met me today?"

"Does my opinion count?" Morgan asked, surprised by the Doctor's last sentence.

"To an extent, yes," the Doctor told him. "I need you to trust me the same way both Jackson and Rosita trust me. Can you do that?"

"I can do that."

"Good," the Doctor smiled.

The smiling between the Doctor and Morgan didn't last too long though. Instead the house shuddered and a vase came crashing down, smashing into the floor. It was enough to get both Morgan and Jackson out of their seats.

"What the hell?" the Doctor muttered, heading towards a window, followed by Jackson, Morgan and Rosita. "Oh, this can't be good."

Outside the ground had been shaking, which was worrying enough. Things got more worrying when all four of them had noticed that no-one was around the vicinity anymore.

It was enough to get the four of them out of the house. Rosita had checked on Frederick and held onto him. Jackson looked to his right with Morgan while the Doctor had looked left. No-one was there and with that, they were all thinking the same thing.

"It's like a ghost town," Morgan said, his eyes in total disbelief. Everything else looked merged but there was no-one around, except for them.

"It can't be," the Doctor looked at him. "It's not possible."

"Do you hear that?" Rosita asked, her grip on Frederick's hand getting a little tighter, her instinct to protect the boy rising.

"Sounds like a wild animal," Jackson acknowledged.

"A very close wild animal," the Doctor sounded alarmed as perched on a roof was one member of a familiar race he had encountered about two and a half years ago. The creature looked only once at them before jumping down to greet them.

"Rosita, take Frederick in the house now," the Doctor ordered her. Rosita didn't protest, she simply went inside, keeping a hold on Frederick.

Before the Doctor could make another protest, the creature had jumped down and grabbed him. For a few seconds they had struggled before the creature ended up pinning the Doctor to the ground, viciously slapping him. Its orders had been to make its presence known but it couldn't resist taking some semblance of revenge on the Doctor. After all, he was the man who murdered his friends. He was going to pay for that.

"Get off me," the Doctor bristled harshly but the creature took no heed and resumed to attack the Time Lord in its collective rage.

Both Morgan and Jackson made desperate efforts to get the creature off the Doctor, who was having a harder time defending himself. Jackson had tried hitting while Morgan had opted for trying to drag the creature off him but the creature lost patience and managed to backhand Jackson while kicking Morgan away from him.

As he hit the ground and got a fair amount of snow on his face, Jackson realised that he still possessed an info stamp in his pocket. When Morgan got smacked away for the second time, Jackson stood up defiantly and pointed the info stamp at the creature.

"I said, get off him," Jackson snarled as he took aim and shot the creature. The creature screamed in pain before becoming little more than dust.

"Thanks," the Doctor gasped, catching his breath while in a slight daze. He was desperate to get some oxygen back into his lungs. Both Jackson and Morgan helped him to his feet. The Doctor's face was bruised and bloodied, some of the blood seeping onto his jacket, coat and shirt.

"I think you need to get cleaned up," Jackson said, offering the Doctor a hankerchief. The Doctor used it to wipe some of the blood off his face.

Within a few minutes, the Doctor had been sitting down, having his face properly cleaned up and tended to by Rosita. He winced every time she cleaned a particularly sore spot.

"I just realised how appropriate your namesake really is," Rosita smiled at him. "Just like most doctors, you're a terrible patient."

"NHS's worst nightmare," the Doctor smiled back at her, mischievously, despite the fact that Rosita didn't get the joke. He winced once more. He hadn't expected those particular visitors.

"So who are your friends?" Morgan asked, his voice concerned.

"Krillitane," the Doctor grimaced.

"At least we know who's behind all of this," Jackson added.

"That's what worries me," the Doctor continued. "What do they want?"

The Graske had returned with bad news. He didn't doubt that his new master was going to be furious with him. Instead this death didn't shock his master at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

"Now that he knows I'm here," the creature smirked while rubbing his hands in glee. "It's about time I made it easier for him to find me."

With that, the creature had pulled out the familiar box from beforehand. The blue light and low level hypnosis will instinctively draw the Doctor to him like a lamb to the slaughter. The Doctor's little companions however would serve as a feast for the creature's army but the Doctor himself was his personal prize. Vengeance was getting closer and closer.

Now that Rosita had finished tending to his scars, the Doctor was anxious to get a plan in motion. However a serene call, almost the sound of a shell shock up close was distracting him. He was being summoned or at least that's what it felt like to him.

"So what do we do now?" Morgan asked. "They know we're here. We should do something, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," the Doctor answered him, distracted by the sound. His eyes then darkened a little. "I know where they are."

"Great then, let's go." Morgan's enthusiasm sort of caught everyone off guard. Rosita and Jackson looked at him dubiously.

The Doctor however walked over towards Morgan, putting his hands on his shoulders and gave him a concerned look. Morgan knew good and proper that he was not going to like the next thing that the Doctor would end up saying to him.

"I want you to stay here with Rosita," the Doctor told him.

"What? Why?" Morgan exclaimed, not able to conceal his confusion and annoyance. "I could help you. You seem to need that kind of thing from what I've read about you."

"I need to do this alone," the Doctor told him firmly. "The Krillitane are after me personally. Somehow I might have caused this."

"The device," Morgan murmured as he began to remember something. "You touched it."

"Yeah."

"Then you really will need help," Morgan pointed out impatiently.

"You're staying here. It's better that way," the Doctor said, standing his ground. "I'm not risking anyone else's life for me."

"But you still need someone," Rosita interrupted the two of them. "That thing would've killed you if it hadn't been for Jackson."

"She's right, Doctor," Jackson turned to him as he got up. "I'm coming with you. No arguments."

The Doctor was about to protest but Jackson put his hand on the former's shoulder to silence him. The Doctor took a sharp intake of breath before deciding that maybe Jackson should accompany him. It had been Jackson that had saved both him and Rosita from being killed by Cybermen not so long ago.

"Okay then, let's go," the Doctor smiled as his picked up a sword from Jackson's wall and tossed it to Jackson. "Do you still have those info stamps?"

Jackson pulled some of them out, giving at least three to the Doctor. There was five left on the cache, which Jackson then handed to Rosita. Rosita and the Doctor engaged in some minor small talk while Morgan felt a little out of the loop. Jackson had used this moment to speak with him without either the Doctor or Rosita listening to them.

"Do you believe in him?" Jackson asked; his eyes dazzling, appealing to this strangely dressed young man. "The Doctor that is."

"Yeah, I kinda gathered that would be who you'd be talking about. I've only just met him," Morgan confessed, a pausing reluctance still deep in his voice. "I don't know if I should. Maybe. What do you need me to do?"

"Keep Rosita and my son safe," Jackson looked at him.

"I think Rosita can take care of herself," Morgan said, "but okay, I'll do that if that's what you need me to do. Those stamp things, pretty useful to have."

"Right then," the Doctor said to Jackson, "onwards and upwards. And Morgan and Rosita, be careful."

"Just go," Rosita smiled at him, then looking at Jackson. "And don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," Jackson promised her.

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Morgan also smiled at him. "I hope."

The Doctor and Jackson hadn't heard the last part of what Morgan had said. Instead the two men had left the house unaware that a Krillitane had seen them leave and teleported itself away to warn it's leader that the Doctor was on his way.

"He is coming," the Krillitane told it's master. "However he has company."

"We'll deal with that when he arrives," the cloaked creature hissed, rubbing his arm in irritation. The very thought of the Doctor on his way was making his burned skin tingle incessantly.

"What about his other friends?" the Krillitane enquired. "What should we do with them?"

"Summon a few Krillitane to that house and kill them," the creature instructed. "Last thing I need is them gate crashing."

"Very well," the Krillitane smiled. "And the Graske?"

"Kill it." This time the order sounded more feral from the mystery creature. "The thing's been more trouble than it's worth. Besides, it's already served it's purpose so there's no need for it to still be alive now, is there?"

"I guess not," the Krillitane said grimly. "I'll dispatch of it."

As it turned to leave, the clearing of the mystery creature's throat stopped the Krillitane in it's tracks. It turned it's head to face it's leader, expecting a further instruction.

"Make sure when the Doctor arrives that he and his friend are reasonably contained."

The Krillitane nodded and left the room. Unbeknownst to it, the Graske had eavesdropped during their entire exchange. The Graske felt rage that this creature was going to have him killed so he decided to get some revenge of his own and snuck out of the house without being detected.

"This is really killing you isn't it?"

That questioned dragged Morgan out of his train of thought. He was never a person who could sit and relax, he always had to be doing something. It was this kind of restless, nervous energy that attracted him to the world of journalism and now he felt like he was being left out of a really good game. Granted, the practical side of him realised that there were lives at stake as well as imminent doom and time displacement if the Krillitane succeeded but being stuck here with Rosita was more than he could handle.

"What is?" he asked, knowing full well what she meant.

"You want to be out there, fighting with the Doctor and Jackson," Rosita smiled at him. "I can see it in your eyes. You know something else? I want to as well."

"But there's Frederick so we can't," Morgan said, sounding like a buzzkill. "And Jackson told me to protect you."

"I thought you said I could look after myself?"

"You can."

With that, there was an awkward silence. Morgan and Rosita had said nothing else to each other. Frederick had gone into the kitchen and within seconds, the young boy had let out a scream. It was enough for both Rosita and Morgan to grab onto their supply of info stamps and head to the kitchen.

"These Krillitane, how bad are they?" Jackson had asked the Doctor.

Both him and the Doctor had been running for long enough, following the hypnotic sound that only the Doctor could hear. At times it was misleading and even though the Doctor probably knew he was walking into a trap, there was something about that sound he couldn't physically resist. Perhaps something in the machine had psychically tuned itself into him.

"They tried to tempt me to end the world by becoming a God," the Doctor said as he eyed up a familiar house — a funeral parlour no less. "That's pretty awful."

With that, no more questions were asked. Jackson followed as the Doctor ran towards the funeral home with a steely determination in his eyes. There was something undeniably exhilarating about helping this man, despite the dangers afoot.

In the kitchen, Frederick had been cornered by a small creature with tentacles sticking out of it's head. The creature hissed at him but upon realising that Morgan and Rosita had stormed into the kitchen, it pointed its gun at them.

"I mean you no harm," the Graske said, his voice sounding pleading.

"Yeah, right," Rosita hissed and then looked at Frederick. "If you've hurt him, I'll -"

"The boy is not my concern," the Graske hissed back. "See I'll even let him go to prove he's not a priority."

The Graske kept to his word and motioned Frederick to leave the corner. At first the boy was reluctant but Rosita coaxed him and the boy then stayed by her side. Even with this seeming act of generosity, both Morgan and Rosita were still unwilling to trust him.

"Okay then, what it?" Morgan asked, info stamp at the ready in case the Graske attempted to shoot at them.

"The Doctor."

"What about him?" Rosita asked.

"He's a dead man," the Graske muttered. "And so is everyone else in the universe."

Those words were shocking enough for Morgan and Rosita to hear. What made it worse was the smashing of a front door and some windows. It didn't take a genius to realise that Krillitane were now in the house. Rosita's grip on Frederick grew tighter as she reached for an info stamp. Morgan had reached for one. Both of them were at least going to down fighting if nothing else.

Fiddling with his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor had finally managed to get the door of Sneed's funeral parlour open. The last time he had been in one of these places, he was nearly killed by the Gelth but he was another man back then and at least with the Gelth, he sort of knew what he was getting into. Here, he was running blind.

"I don't know if this is right, Doctor," Jackson told him, keeping a hold on his sword.

"I don't have a choice," the Doctor smiled as he prepared himself to enter the dark parlour. "Shall we?"

Jackson smiled back and headed in before him.

"Darkness, I don't -"

"Jackson?" the Doctor called, his voice suddenly more than alarmed.

The Doctor then entered the funeral home to his peril. As soon as he had stepped into the door, Krillitane had surrounded him, the first one kicking him from the back, making him stumble a little while it slammed the door shut so neither Time Lord nor Jackson could escape. The Doctor had time to see that Jackson had been knocked out before two hoops of rope had looped around his waist, tightening around him and making him lose his footing momentarily before he regained it.

"Now, come on!" he grunted in pain, wriggling to get free.

The Doctor tried to use his sonic screwdriver in a bid to free himself but one of the Krillitane snatched it out of his hands and crushed it. The Doctor hadn't time to stop another from binding his hands behind his back as tightly as he could, making the Time Lord wince. Then he noticed one of the monsters advancing towards Jackson, who was still breathing and about to come to.

"Leave him alone," the Doctor barked at the Krillitane.

"Gag him!" the alien hissed back at him in response.

With that, the Doctor was gagged with a thick white cloth as the remaining Krillitane began to drag him down to a grotty basement. The Doctor struggled as best he could but his efforts were feeble against the aliens. Once down the basement, a hooded creature came out of the shadows. He revealed himself instantly by pulling off his hood and the Doctor shuddered, realising that this was an enemy he had presumed dead. He had no reason not to presume otherwise.

"It can't be," came a muffled reply from the Doctor.

"Hello, Doctor," Headmaster Finch smiled at him, his face completed scarred and monstrous. "It's been a while. How long has it been for you, killer?"

The Doctor moaned through his gag. This was one of the least likely reunions he had expected as Finch came close enough to harshly slap him across the face. The Doctor recoiled and then looked at Finch who was smiling at the helpless Time Lord.

The house had begun to violently shake. Crockery and other miscellaneous items were hitting the floor as Morgan, Rosita, Frederick and the Graske became all too aware that they had company. Needless to say that the company crashing through the windows weren't bearing any gifts.

"Friends of yours?" Rosita asked accusingly, resuming the anger and mistrust she held for the mischievous creature that had claimed to be on their side.

"This is not my doing," the Graske protested huffily. "I'm in as much danger as any of you."

"Then you'll help us," Morgan said, looking around. "Rosita, get Frederick out of here."

"I'm not leaving you," Rosita began to start but then she stopped herself all of a sudden.

Under normal circumstances she wouldn't take orders from Morgan but she also knew that Jackson would be beyond inconsolable if anything happened to Frederick. With that in mind, she took the young boy's hand, backed slowly until she felt the handle of the back door and then let herself out. She gave Morgan one last glance as she closed the door.

_I should be in there helping him. What if he ends up getting killed? He wasn't exactly able to save the Doctor the last time these things attacked the house_.

"How confident are you?" the Graske, his voice both taunting and concerned at the same time. "They have a thing for human flesh."

"We'll find out soon enough," Morgan rasped, a tint of fear in his voice. The odds were too much against him. He could've cursed the Doctor and Jackson for leaving him, Rosita and Frederick in the house, even if they had been left enough info stamps. Plus he had the nastiest of feelings that the Graske would probably run at the first real sign of trouble.

Morgan stopped thinking after that. He held tightly onto two info stamps in each hand while the Graske held a similar grip on to the laser gun he had. All thoughts disappeared as three of the Krillitanes darted into the kitchen, one of them even licking its lips as it lunged for both of them.

"I made you an offer once, do you remember?"

The Doctor had been lying in a coffin of all things, his hands still bound behind his back while still gagged. Headmaster Finch hovered over him, a menacing presence, enjoying the capture. The thrill of the chase had ceased. Whatever vengeance this creature had intended, the Doctor got the sense that Finch was going to prolong it as much as possible.

"I suppose it's difficult to have a conversation when the other person can't respond," Finch had reasoned as he yanked the cloth out of the Doctor's mouth. "I'll ask you again. Do you-"

"- I remember. You offered to make me into a God," the Doctor hissed, struggling in his bonds. "I also remember how I responded as well."

"Yes, you were quite vocal about how you were going to stop me," Finch snarled as he showed the captive Time Lord his badly scarred arms. "How do you like your handiwork?"

The Doctor didn't respond. He couldn't. There wasn't a single thing in the world he could say to Finch. Apologies would be futile and a gleeful response would go against the grain of his own beliefs. The Doctor never took pleasure in taking another species life. He certainly wasn't going to start now.

"What, no witty riposte?" Finch asked, almost fascinated by the Doctor's silence. "You usually can't keep your trap shut. Always making your opinion counted for."

"What have you done?" the Doctor asked. "Time, what did you do?"

"Do you like it?"

"No," the Doctor snapped sharply, catching his breath. He noticed that his feet had been bound also and that due to the width of the coffin he couldn't move around a lot.

"Don't worry, you won't be around long enough for it to be a permanent eyesore for you," the scarred Krillitane assured him.

"Is that a threat?" the Doctor bristled. He tried to get up out of the coffin, only for Finch to push him down again. The Doctor let out a gasp in slight pain.

"It's a promise," Finch continued. "Your little tin dog scarred me. I'm going to kill you because it's only fair and because I can."

"Still doesn't explain why you've mucked around with two time lines," the Doctor struggled with Finch's force on his chest. "If you're so confident about killing me, then you might as well grant me a dying wish."

Finch kept his hand on the Doctor's chest, pushing a little tighter to make the Time Lord wince a little. He was tempted to extract the meddling do-gooder's tongue but visceral torture had no real appeal to him. Instead he just considered the Doctor's request before coming up with a satisfying response.

"Grant a dying man a wish?" Finch chuckled lightly. "You must think I have some good left in me. Surely you should be begging me for your life, Doctor?"

"Would you spare me if I did?"

"I'd kill you and make it even more painful than I was planning to," Finch vowed, his tone darkening, tinted with rage. "You nearly decimated my entire race. For someone who's the last of his kind, that was brutal. Barbaric even."

"Your kind are still alive," the Doctor said, defending himself. "I only stopped you from destroying mankind. Even you must understand that somewhere."

"Then you've failed."

"Humankind is still here," the Doctor reminded him. "How have I failed?"

"That little device you touched?"

The Doctor blinked for a second. Finch then produced the device that him and Morgan had been drawn to earlier on. It was still humming, though very lowly. The Doctor watched as Finch left it on a nearby table.

"You drew me in with that thing," the Doctor murmured.

"I did more than that," Finch smiled at him. "I used your DNA code from the last place you travelled in a bid to merge with the next place you'd go to. Knowing how amazingly predictable you tend to be, it wasn't much of a surprise that said next place would be 21st Century London."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning," Finch continued condescendingly. "In other words, I'm going to merge both timelines and effectively wipe out as many threats, be they certain humans, technology and rule this planet. And I have you to thank for it, Doctor."

"You won't win," the Doctor stared at him coldly. Now it was his turn to make a promise. "I'll stop you."

"How?" Finch asked. "Your friends are as good as dead and you're going to join them. There's no stopping me now. I wouldn't worry about your friends though. My friends would've made it quick for them. You won't have that same luxury."

The Doctor didn't have a reply for that. Instead he just focused on the fact that not only had he been tied up in a coffin but the coffin itself was on a support and when he glanced at the lever a little out of his reach, a horrid realisation had struck him. Headmaster Finch was going to cremate him. Just like the Daleks and his people, he was going to burn. That knot of dread got a little bigger.

Rosita had been outside long enough, clutching Frederick's arm for the longest time. Inside she could hear screams and various things smashing to pieces. From the curtains she could see that at least one of the Krillitane had met a laser death. She wasn't sure if the victor was either Morgan or the Graske. Not that it mattered entirely.

Her only instinct was to keep Frederick as safe as she could. So far she had been lucky that she hadn't been spotted by any of the Krillitane. Frederick himself had been too scared to make a sound. Rosita felt for the child. The last couple of weeks, he's been surrounded by nothing by monsters. Then she heard a groan from the gate.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Rosita said. The words might not have sounded polite but she was glad to see another face.

"I was inside when it happened," Jed exclaimed, then wondering aloud. "What exactly has happened? Is it to do with that Doctor guy?"

"Yes. Sort of," Rosita gritted her teeth, motioning for Jed to come towards her and to keep his voice down. "Look after Frederick."

Jed didn't answer. Rosita didn't give him a chance. Instead she gave Frederick a sympathetic look and a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm coming back," she assured the boy as she took a firm grip on an info stamp and headed back inside the house.

"Get off me," Morgan shrieked, using both hands around a Krillitane's neck in order to keep it's teeth from biting on his neck. The creature's arms swatted at Morgan in a fevered frenzy to get his guard down. The Graske had retreated under the table, too scared to help. Rosita gave him a withering look as she came to Morgan's rescue.

"You smell different, not quite right" the Krillitane squealed at Morgan. Morgan ignored the comment. Rosita shot the creature down with her info stamp. It screamed in agony as it was reduced to dust.

Morgan caught his breath, stared at Rosita for a second while getting to his feet. He felt his neck, bruised from strangulation. His arms would have some bruises too given the intense smacks they had just received.

"Thanks," Morgan rasped, then watching the Graske. "You have some explaining to do."

Before the Graske could think to move Frederick and Jed had re-entered from the back door. Jed instinctively stood guard over the back door, holding a shovel in a slightly threatening manner.

"What's going with time?" Rosita asked.

"The Krillitane want to use both this time and the future as one," the Graske stuttered. "So that he can rule forever. A world under Krillitane rule, bad for humankind. Bad for many kinds."

"How do we stop it?" Morgan asked.

"Device you must destroy it," the Graske said, assuming Morgan had remembered the device that hummed such blue light. "But the Doctor must touch it again, otherwise you condemn the worlds together."

"Where are they — this Krillitane and the Doctor?" Morgan asked, this time more determinedly.

"And Jackson," Rosita added. Morgan gave her an apologetic look. He didn't mean to forget about Jackson.

"I'll show you," the Graske offered as he saw Jed stepping aside from the back door. "Come this way."

"I'm going with you," Rosita told Morgan. "Jed-"

"-I'll keep him safe," Jed replied, knowing well that she wanted him to keep an eye on Frederick. Morgan gave him two info stamps on the off chance that more Krillitane might visit.

There had been no need for knocking when the three of them had arrived at the funeral home. Rosita had expertly displayed her leg talents by kicking the door with minimal effort. Morgan looked at her impressed with the handiwork she had done to the door. Once inside they heard a familiar groan, strained.

Jackson had laid on the floor, bound and gagged, struggling. Rosita went over and instantly freed him.

"Thanks," Jackson groaned once his gag had been removed. He rubbed his wrists and then indicated the cellar. "The Doctor's down there."

"We have company," Morgan hissed as two more Krillitane had returned, the first one throwing itself as an obstacle between Jackson and Rosita. Morgan had managed to kill the second one with an info stamp.

"You're all on your own," the Graske hissed, then threw his gun in the air. "Tell the Doctor to shoot the device after he touches it, otherwise you're all doomed."

With that, the Graske had left as quickly as he had entered the funeral parlour. Morgan realised that Jackson was the nearest person who could get to the Doctor in time. He was the nearest to the cellar and the only one with the gun in his hands. That was enough for him to lunge at the Krillitane.

"Save the Doctor."

Jackson didn't need to be told twice as he headed down to the cellar. He could see a coffin heading to a fiery end and a grotesquely scarred Krillitane looking at him, snarling.

"Not another do-gooder with delusions of stopping me."

"Not delusions," Jackson assured him. He shot the creature instantly, watching it become nothing but dust, then realising the muffled screams coming from the coffin. Finch had the Doctor gagged again.

"Doctor!"

Jackson stopped the lever and removed the lid of the coffin. He used the info stamp to cut the Doctor's bonds on his feet and managed to get the Time Lord out of the coffin. Once doing that, he untied the Doctor's hands.

Taking out the gag that Finch had shoved back into his mouth, the Doctor rasped, "Where are the others?"

"Safe," Jackson assured him as he looked at the humming device. "Doctor, we need to fix this before it becomes permanent."

"I know," the Doctor conceded. His palm touched the device, extracting further DNA. When he removed his hand, Jackson shot at the device. For a brief second, light surrounded the room and everywhere beyond. Both the Doctor and Jackson held onto the table, shaking a little. When the light show was over they looked at each other.

"Did it work?" Jackson curiously asked while catching his breath. He was unsure of what had really just happened.

"Let's find out," the Doctor replied as the two of them stepped out of the basement, taking the device with them in case they had failed.

Outside had stood a beautiful London evening, Victorian style. The Doctor and Jackson had discovered within a few seconds that everything had gone back to the way it should be. Rosita and Morgan had finished dispatching the remaining Krillitane. Then, the Doctor remembered about the Graske.

"What happened to him?" he asked both of them.

"He just left," Rosita said. "Coward."

"Unlike you," Morgan smiled at her. "She saved my life a few times."

"Rosita has a habit of doing that," Jackson smiled at him. "Thankfully you saved ours as well. Thank you for protecting my son."

"Any time."

"I take it, it's back to your time, now?" Rosita asked, while looking at both the Doctor and Morgan.

"Guess so," the Doctor smiled, then looking at Morgan with a puppy dog grin on his face. "You want to see what a real spaceship can do?"

"Absolutely," Morgan replied, returning the smile and thinking how interesting it would be to see the inside of vessel that resembled a police box. The idea in itself was a flurry of wonderful nonsense.

"Next time we meet, I'm not gonna be nearly cremated by a homicidal alien," the Doctor told Jackson and Rosita as he then shook their hands and hugged them.

Morgan shook both their hands but declined on hugging them. Instead he shot them a sincere smile to show that he wasn't being rude. With that, both him and the Doctor headed to the TARDIS, which funnily enough had been in the middle of the square.

_So much for discretion. Most of the locals will probably think something's in the water when they see it_.

Once inside the TARDIS, Morgan took a look around, allowing the whole space of the ship to swim around his thoughts. He wasn't a particularly geeky person so the urge to start madly squeeing was a bit easier to keep in check. But he was impressed with what he saw and he could tell that the Doctor had picked up on it as well.

"How about travelling with me?" the Doctor asked. It felt sudden, almost a bit leftfield even.

"Are you serious?" Morgan shot back, though not unkindly.

"If you want," the Doctor cajoled. "There's plenty of space in this ship …. But on the other hand, you might have had your fair share of alien adventures and would probably prefer a more quieter life."

Morgan paused. He hadn't thought about actually travelling with the Doctor, even during most of the events of the last few hours, the thought didn't really enter his head. He certainly knew from what he gathered on the Doctor that there was a significant risk factor in travelling with him. People, planets, other life forms often died around this man.

That being said, Morgan also knew that some of these things weren't the Doctor's fault and aside from a few personal struggles, there was no real reason to refuse the man's offer. Morgan wanted to know more about alien life ever since his encounter in Cardiff. The way he could see it, this was the best way to achieve it.

"Okay," he finally said after what felt like an hour in deep thought.

"Okay, what?" the Doctor asked, wanting to be sure.

"I'll travel with you," Morgan confirmed what the Doctor had been thinking. "However not yet. I need to tie up some loose ends, come up with a plausible story so my friends, work colleagues, Peter and my Dad don't think I've gone missing, so come January 29th, I'm yours. To travel with, nothing else. No offence, I'm sure you're a nice guy but you're not my type."

"That's settled then," the Doctor smiled, then realising they had landed back in London 2008, both men stepped out of the TARDIS. It was snowing. The Doctor smiled.

"Actual snow," the Doctor grinned, feeling it on his face. "I could do with seeing more of this."

"Well, maybe we could go to Lapland," Morgan suggested. "I'm not much of a summer person."

The Doctor looked at him, then remembered one of his earlier comments. "What's significant about January 29th?"

"Ah, it's my birthday," Morgan smiled. "I turn twenty five. Bye for now, Doctor."

Morgan shook the Doctor's hand and turned to walk away. Checking his watch, it had only been fifteen minutes since he had left in the first place. The Doctor watched Morgan for a bit, before stepping into the TARDIS and taking off.

Inside his ship, the Doctor smiled. In the space of a day he had made three friends. Perhaps ones he might keep in constant contact. At least one of them would be travelling with him. At times, that's what the Doctor needed more than anything else- a friend. Travelling alone never was much fun.

Unbeknownst to the Doctor, he had been spotted leaving. The Master had seen the whole exchange between the heroic Time Lord and Morgan. However he ignored Morgan in favour of spotting another friend of his old enemy.

"I thought I told you to stay away from me," Donna snapped, trying to get out of the Master's way.

"We need to talk, Donna," the Master persisted. "It's about Mr Smith. I think he's going to do something dangerous and it will affect you. It'll affect all of us."

"Go on."

The Master smiled, now that he fully had Donna's attention. With that, he began to spin her a web of lies, ones that would prove effective when the opportunity would present itself. Until then, he would have to wait patiently.

- The End -


End file.
